Often an individual desires a light focused to illuminate an area while performing a task or a light directed in a general forwardly direction along their line of sight for visibility. Holding a flashlight is an option, but such lighting devices are often cumbersome and may detract from the task being completed because only one hand is available for the task since the other hand is holding the flashlight. As a result, hands-free lighting is desirable so that both hands are available for performing a task in lighted conditions.
Headgear is known that may include light sources attached so as to illuminate an area within the wearer's line of vision. The light source may be an LED mounted to a brim portion of a baseball style hat. Generally, these hats have the LED mounted to direct light forwardly from the brim so that the LED axis is parallel with the fore-and-aft brim axis. With these hats if a wearer wishes to illuminate an object located at a specific location from the wearer, the wearer must move his entire head or hat to direct the brim and light emitted therefrom toward the particular object. If the object is located far away, then the wearer may direct the illumination by moving the hat so that the brim extends generally horizontally or parallel to the ground to provide a beam of light to illuminate the far off object or area. If the object is located nearby, close to, and below the wearer's face, then the wearer must move the hat brim downward to a declined position such that the hat provides a beam of light to illuminate the closer object. Oftentimes, moving the hat downward will require the wearer to bend his neck. This motion may be undesirable because it may be uncomfortable for some people.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,060 to Johnson discloses a lighted hat with two lamps connected to a mounting plate secured to the outside lower surface of a brim of the hat. The light sources are both fixed so that they project light forwardly. If the wearer wishes to adjust the illumination to be directed in another direction, the wearer must still tilt his head or the hat itself in an upward, downward, left or right direction. These lamps also hang noticeably below the visor portion and include relatively large sockets which are soldered to the mounting plate. Both the mounting plate and the sockets are externally attached to the bottom of the visor portion and are readily visible to a third party viewer thereby creating an unaesthetic and non-natural appearance. The external arrangement of these large and bulky lamps and sockets also may be within the peripheral vision of the wearer, which may be distracting, and/or may even block or interfere with a wearer's vision. Furthermore, since these lamps are fixed, illumination is only available in the generally forward direction of the hat wearer.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,413 to Urso discloses a light connected to a visor of a baseball-style cap. The light of Urso is a light bulb received in a socket with the light being pivotally connected to the underside of the visor. The pivotal mounting allows the light to be pivoted in a downward or upward direction to provide light to a location the wearer chooses to illuminate. This configuration permits a wearer to focus the light in a forward direction to provide illumination directly in front of the wearer or rotate the light source in a downward direction to provide illumination at a location below the visor. Pivoting lights are undesirable as they introduce complexity and moving parts into the hat that can fail over repeated usage. While the light of Urso pivots, it still can only project light to one location or area at any one time. Similar to the hat of Johnson, the light of Urso is also bulky and hangs noticeably below the visor. The large profile of this light and mounting apparatus may similarly block or interfere with a wearer's vision as well as create an unaesthetic appearance to third parties viewing the lighted hat, especially when the light is pivoted downwardly. Furthermore, Urso mounts a power source and switch in a crown portion of the hat with wiring extending therebetween across a pivot joint of the light source. Over time, it is possible that the wiring extending across the pivot joint may fail due to repeated bending as the light is pivoted up and down.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,445 to Pomes describes a baseball cap having a light source inside a brim portion of the hat. In one embodiment, the light source is mounted within a recessed compartment of the brim so as to be oriented in a horizontal or parallel position relative to the fore-and-aft axis of the brim. A reflector is positioned in the compartment to reflect the light provided by the light source in a downward direction below the brim. Requiring the beam of illumination to be reflected only provides indirect illumination that is less precise and more difficult to control and direct than a beam of illumination directly emanating from a light source. In another example, Pomes discloses a light source that is mounted vertically orthogonal to the brim's fore-and-aft axis within the recess so that the light source is pointed in a vertically downward direction relative to the brim. To allow the light source to fit in the brim in this vertical orientation, Pomes teaches that the brim can have a thickened section to make space for receiving the light source. Since Pomes describes a light source mounted in a vertical orientation but still enclosed within the brim section, the profile of the brim may be thicker than desired so as not to have the typical streamlined and thin appearance of a traditional baseball hat. Moreover, the perpendicular orientation of the light source relative to the brim is likely to provide illumination in a downward direction that only illuminates an area directly underneath the visor. Neither configuration of Pomes is ideal for illuminating objects that may be located at a reading or viewing distance in front of the wearer. Moreover, projecting light directly underneath the visor as in Pomes can also cause glare or project light into the wearer's eyes.